Project description
Gene therapy vectors for chronic kidney disease
Chronic kidney disease affects 13 % of the global population, with inherited conditions accounting for about a third of these cases. Due to the kidney’s complex delivery barriers and the massive size of many disease-causing genes, gene therapies have remained elusive. However, new technology and delivery systems are transforming the therapeutic landscape. The ERC-funded RENALGENE project aims to develop gene therapy vectors for autosomal dominant polycystic kidney disease (ADPKD) in order to improve kidney-specific targeting and enable the precise delivery of CRISPR editors. These innovative approaches are currently being validated using animal models and patient-derived kidney organoids to pave the way for future clinical applications.
Objective
Chronic kidney disease (CKD) is a leading cause of global mortality, affecting ~13% of global population. Inherited kidney diseases (IKD) are estimated to account for a 30% of CKD cases. Despite the unprecedented development of genetic medicines in the past decades, to date no kidney gene therapy intervention is available. Renal gene therapies have encountered two main barriers: (1) its complex anatomy and function has hampered efficient and specific delivery of genetic therapies to the kidney, and (2) many IKDs are caused by mutations in large genes, and therefore, traditional gene supplementation strategies using efficient and safe in vivo vectors (such as adeno-associated viral vectors or AAV) cannot be developed due to the limited packaging capacity. The main goal of this proposal is to create solutions for these challenges by developing novel gene therapy vectors with improved kidney targeting and genome editing strategies to correct the genetic defect in large genes that cause IKDs.
Recent advances in the field of discovery and engineering of gene delivery vehicles combined with CRISPR-based gene editing technologies have opened the avenue towards developing efficient and safe gene editing therapies. In this proposal, we will develop in vivo genome editing approaches for Autosomal Dominant Polycystic Kidney Disease (ADPKD), the most frequent IKD with an incidence of 1:1,000. For this, we will develop novel AAV gene delivery vectors, a technology that has been clinically validated to target several tissues, enabling an efficient delivery of CRISPR editors to the kidney. Additionally, CRISPR approaches will be designed to restore the physiological expression of the mutated PKD1 gene that causes ADPKD and tested in APDKD mouse and pig models in vivo and in patient-derived kidney organoid models in vitro. The completion of this proposal will enable the generation of personalized and universally applicable in vivo gene editing therapies for ADPKD patients.
Fields of science (EuroSciVoc)
CORDIS classifies projects with EuroSciVoc, a multilingual taxonomy of fields of science, through a semi-automatic process based on NLP techniques. See: The European Science Vocabulary.
CORDIS classifies projects with EuroSciVoc, a multilingual taxonomy of fields of science, through a semi-automatic process based on NLP techniques. See: The European Science Vocabulary.
- medical and health sciences basic medicine anatomy and morphology
- social sciences sociology demography mortality
- medical and health sciences medical biotechnology genetic engineering gene therapy
- natural sciences biological sciences genetics mutation
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Project’s keywords as indicated by the project coordinator. Not to be confused with the EuroSciVoc taxonomy (Fields of science)
Project’s keywords as indicated by the project coordinator. Not to be confused with the EuroSciVoc taxonomy (Fields of science)
Programme(s)
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Multi-annual funding programmes that define the EU’s priorities for research and innovation.
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HORIZON.1.1 - European Research Council (ERC)
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Calls for proposals are divided into topics. A topic defines a specific subject or area for which applicants can submit proposals. The description of a topic comprises its specific scope and the expected impact of the funded project.
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Funding scheme (or “Type of Action”) inside a programme with common features. It specifies: the scope of what is funded; the reimbursement rate; specific evaluation criteria to qualify for funding; and the use of simplified forms of costs like lump sums.
HORIZON-ERC - HORIZON ERC Grants
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Call for proposal
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(opens in new window) ERC-2025-STG
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31008 Pamplona
Spain
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